dHok

I held off on watching this because I did hear about the synopsis of FML lying about something and its very gray areas for me to have FML lying to ML.

What a pleasant surprise this is that both FML and ML were liars (initially) to each other. They’re both highly motivated, detailed and ambitious. I do think this couple suited each other extremely well.

FML Xu Yan lies about her parents (career choices) due to estranged relationship with them growing up and gets married to ML Haoming who is upper class. Which we later learn that ML Haoming clocked her early on and found her an interesting pawn to further his agenda and motivations. Eventually, they learn more about each other and can be honest and navigate their own ambitions, often helping each other out.

What I liked
- How smart FML Xu Yan was
- Different stories and people’s own motivations - I really liked the grandma who made veggie balls. That was touching.
- Ambitiousness is always attractive
- Different relationships with grandmas, mothers, kids, etc. Good combination of generational relationships throughout the series.
- How loving and stern grandma was. Grandma makes me wish I had a grandma. I cried at the part where Xu Yan said Jingzhou was too far for her to travel. That was heartbreaking, and I imagine Grandma felt sad too but she didnt want to make Xu Yan feel bad.
- Female camaraderie! Loved that at the end, the focus is on cultural clothing and sisterhood. That’s worth investing in and being a part of.

Distractions / story arcs that could’ve been better or wasn’t fully fleshed
- Xu Yan and her relationship w/ her parents - To me, it felt that their relationship wasn’t ever truly resolved and there were subtleties now that Xu Yan is a parent to understand maybe her parents wanted what’s best for her but Im still mad because it took a lot of bravery for Xu Yan to ask why her dad kept proving to her that he didnt love her. And the answer was a slap so that’s… No.
- Haochen. As much as you learn about the boy, in the last couple of episodes after a much needed retreat, you hardly see him and isn’t he a part of their family? I also think that he should be told the last minute thing that they decided to do w/ Fang Lei which - completely unnecessary imo. I know that’s a lot of feelings for him but its also like… Wen he finds out - isn’t this series ALL about lying? Stop lying otherwise the fallout is bigger.
- Lin Tao. I dont know what his character is suppose to be. Even the big arc of him threatening Qiao Lin isn’t a big deal either. I understood his character initially, even when he came to Jinzhou to convince Qiao Lin to return and get married but the complete refusal to not let Qiao Lin go is shoddy writing and completely unnecessary.
- Bad guy / Steve / Wen Lawyer dude. As much as they put emphasis on this, they’re easily rounded up crooks - felt like weak ultimate villains/latest villain to end on at least!
- How utterly unhinged Fang Lei was for her to retreat and go to UK in the end. That just felt too neat and honestly I wish they spent more time on her character development because she was just seen drinking a shitton.

Some more thoughts - ML Haoming fell short of what I would want a ML to be. While he was jealous and childish, which shows to his EQ, I also felt that he couldve grown more. He also never had a honest to goodness chat with his son about who his mom is or what happened and that he wanted him (Haochen as a son). He's just OK ML IMO.

All in all, its entertaining and I can see why many ppl like it. It certainly wasnt what I expected, I'm unsure if I'd rewatch it.